Chapter 1
The Enneagramatic Nature of Beelzebub’s Tales
Gurdjieff wrote The Tales just as he lived his life ~The enneagram as a ‘new language’, necessary for a new understanding ~ Examples of enneagramatic structure from the text of The Tales. References most specifically Chapter 39, “The Holy Planet `Purgatory’.”
Chapter 2
Innocence–The Comet–The Exile
Life begins amid great vulnerability and great potential ~Influences affect the development of each individual just as every new life rehearses the previous experience of its deep origin. Refers mainly to chapters 2 and 17, “Why Beelzebub Was in Our Solar System” and “The Arch-Absurd.”
Chapter 3
The Nature and Sources of Conviction
The actions of individuals, societies and cultures express their convictions ~ The brained nature of conviction ~ The basis of false convictions contrasted with objectively valid and impartial convictions. Refers to chapters 1 and 13, “The Arousing of Thought” and “Why in Man’s Reason Fantasy May Be Perceived as Reality.”
Chapter 4
Kundabuffer
Kundabuffer is the most complex notion in The Tales ~ Physiological, psychological and symbolic parameters ~ Etymology ~ Consequences ~ A physical and neurological buffer, and a ‘mirror’. Relates to Chapter 21, “The First Visit of Beelzebub to India.”
Chapter 5
‘Perpetual Motion’, that ‘Crazy Notion’
Inner world construction that runs by itself ~ Great loss and penalties ~ The ‘clever’ weight ~ Real perpetual motion of ‘Hariton’. Relates to Chapter 6, “Perpetual Motion.”
Chapter 6
Pearls and the Custom
Tiny steps that lead to war ~ Inner image of the pearl ~Sacrifice of the brains. References Chapter 21, “The First Visit of Beelzebub to India.”
Chapter 7
Looisos: the Law and the Custom
The involutional flow of law ~ The unbalanced Law of Three ~ The shifting center-of-gravity ~ The moon and personality ~ Sacrificial Offerings. Relates to Chapter 19, “Beelzebub’s Tales About His Second Descent on to the Planet Earth.”
Chapter 8
The ‘True’ and the ‘Sorry’ Scientist
‘Objective science’ versus ‘lopsided’ learning ~ Struggle for balance in each brain ~ Model of a harmoniously developed ‘true’ scientist. Relates to Chapter 41, “The Bokharian Dervish Hadji-Asvatz-Troov.”
Chapter 9
Gurdjieff’s ‘hydrogens’
The universe as a continuum of energies ~ Triadic nature of the ‘hydrogens’ ~ Mass and non-mass ~ Electromagnetism and the higher ‘hydrogens’ ~ Images, photons, attention and the will. Relates to Chapter 18, “The Arch-preposterous.”
Chapter 10
An Evolutionary Perspective on the Higher Centers
Biology of the brains ~ Higher centers and Darwinian evolution ~ Three octave parallels in digestion ~ Science and man’s possible evolution
Chapter 11
The Emergence of the Possibility of Individual Reason
The natural appearance of ‘independence’ ~ Directed attention ~ Man’s three worlds ~ Reason as a distant possibility. Relates to chapters 39 and 47, “The Holy Planet `Purgatory’” and “The Inevitable Result of Impartial Mentation.”
Chapter 12
To ‘ruffle’ the Perceptions
Allegory as fundamental ~ Images contradictory, absurd, consistent ~ Logical confrontations ~ Inner “clash” ~ Levels of the subconscious. Relates to many chapters but especially to Chapter 1, “The Arousing of Thought.”
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